


the technicalities of kissing

by mythological



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, M/M, implied nahyucksung, jaemin getting the love he deserves, mark only appears for like 0.1sec sry, this is just very soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:47:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25876150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mythological/pseuds/mythological
Summary: Six boys. Six types of kisses.(Or: it's Jaemin's birthday, and he finds himself being showered with kisses. Not that he's complaining.)
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Na Jaemin, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Na Jaemin, Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, Mark Lee/Na Jaemin, Na Jaemin/Everyone, Na Jaemin/Park Jisung, Na Jaemin/Zhong Chen Le
Comments: 13
Kudos: 349





	the technicalities of kissing

**Author's Note:**

> happy birthday, jaemin!
> 
> **this is not edited.  
> the title also makes 0 sense i am sorry

There’s a brief, barely-there press of something soft on Jaemin’s forehead. It’s gone before he can even comprehend it and Jaemin opens his eyes, trying to blink the sleepy haze away, squinting from the sunlight that streams in through his windows.

“Breakfast is ready.” Oh, it’s Jeno. “Chenle and Jisung are going to eat everything if you don’t get up soon.”

Jaemin grunts, letting his eyes flutter close for another ten seconds before opening them again, sitting up so that he’s not tempted to sleep for the next three hours. “I’m up.”

Jeno grins, and Jaemin thinks that it’s too early for him to be looking at the sun like this. “Happy birthday, Jaemin.” He ruffles Jaemin’s hair, humming under his breath as he leaves the room.

Once Jeno’s gone, Jaemin stretches, letting out a satisfied sigh as his joints pop. He searches for his phone, blindly moving his hand back and forth on his bed until he hits the corner of his phone with his hand. There are messages from his parents, wishing him a happy birthday, and Jaemin types out a quick response, letting them know that he’ll call them later today after lunch.

He opens his Kakao Talk chat thread with Mark, letting out a short bark of laughter at the short but sweet message that Mark has sent him.

 **Mark hyung:** yooooo jaemin! happy birthday dude. hope u have a good one 😘  
 **Mark hyung:** see u in a couple of days! :)

Jaemin feels his lips curl up in a fond, amused smile as he sends Mark a slew of emoticons as thanks, ignoring the pang of pain he feels at the thought of not being able to celebrate with Mark this year.

It’s loud when he leaves the bedroom but that’s nothing new. The noise only increases on the days that Chenle decides to stay over, and today is one of those days.

“Good morning, sleepy head,” Renjun chirps as he clears away his bowl. “You’re the last one up. We decided to let you sleep in since we don’t have any schedules today.” He pauses. “Oh, and happy birthday, I guess.”

Jaemin snorts, because even after all these years Renjun can be such a fucking tsundere sometimes. “Thanks, Injunnie.” He follows after Renjun into the kitchen, filling a bowl with rice and another with the seaweed soup that the dorm auntie made for his birthday. Renjun had left the side dishes out on the table for Jaemin, so he just grabs a spoon and chopsticks and makes his way back to the dining table.

He’s surprised when Renjun decides to stick around, sitting at the seat across from Jaemin. He’s scrolling through his phone, laughing quietly to himself every now and then.

“Look.” Renjun’s eyes are swimming with mirth as he shows Jaemin a video that he’s found online. “It’s the dog’s first time trying to go down the stairs, and oh my god Jaemin it’s _so_ cute—”

It’s nice, Jaemin thinks as he eats his breakfast while cooing over cute dog videos together with Renjun. The air of peace that blankets over them; it’s a nice change of pace compared to the past couple of weeks, and Jaemin learns to appreciate all the seemingly small, simple moments that they’re granted every now and then.

Once he’s done eating, Renjun helps him clear the table. He puts away the leftover side dishes while Jaemin puts his bowls and cutlery into the sink.

“You can leave the dishes,” Renjun tells him when Jaemin moves to put the rubber gloves on to wash the dishes. “Jisung lost rock paper scissors this morning so he’s in charge of the dishes today.”

Jaemin pauses. “You trust Jisung to wash our dishes? The ones that are made of glass?”

“Okay, when you put it like _that_ …”

That makes Jaemin laugh, Renjun joining him once he’s done mourning over the future state of their dishes. He still nudges Jaemin away from the sink, grinning playfully. “Come on, birthday boy,” he says. “We can’t have you doing the chores. It’s your _birthday_.”

Jaemin rolls his eyes at that. “So what?” he shrugs. “That doesn’t really mean anything. It’s just another day in the end, isn’t it?”

“You’re impossible.” Renjun jabs his side harshly, and Jaemin yelps in pain. When Jaemin pouts at him, Renjun just rolls his eyes, gently patting the area in a silent apology. “Do you have any plans for today?”

“Nah.” Jaemin shakes his head. “I’m just going to laze around today. Call my parents after lunch. Maybe bother Jisung a little bit. Or a lot.”

“Sounds fun,” Renjun replies. “Let’s watch a movie later. Apparently _Crazy Rich Asians_ is on Netflix now, and Chenle wants to watch it together.”

“Sure.” Jaemin nods. He raises an eyebrow when Renjun grabs his hand, kissing his palm with a dramatic, unnecessarily loud _mwah_! “What the fuck?”

“Happy birthday, Jaemin.” Renjun reaches up to ruffle Jaemin’s hair, his eyes twinkling with mischief and adoration. “Congrats on surviving another year around the sun, yeah?”

Jaemin doesn’t bother trying to fight back the grin threatening to overtake his face. “Thanks, Renjun.”

Renjun gives him one last smile before retreating to his room, leaving Jaemin to wander into the living room alone. Chenle’s already there, his expression uncharacteristically serious as he focuses on the game he’s playing on his phone. Jaemin plops himself down onto the couch next to him, pulling his phone out of his pocket and peeking over at Chenle’s screen. He’s playing Kart Rider, and Jaemin cheers with him when he wins the round.

“Play with me?” Chenle asks, looking at Jaemin with a hopeful expression.

“In a bit,” Jaemin says. “Let me just scroll through Twitter for a bit first.”

Chenle nods in understanding, scooting over to close the tiny gap between them and snuggling into Jaemin’s side.

It’s warm. The warmth from the sun seeps into their living room through their windows, and Chenle’s body temperature runs just a tad higher than Jaemin’s, meaning that Jaemin’s side starts to feel a little _too_ warm after only a couple of minutes, but he can’t bring himself to tell Chenle to scoot over. He’s too comfortable, and he doesn’t want to disturb the air of tranquillity around them.

He reads through the birthday hashtags that the fans have created for him, smiling as he reads all the tweets he can, wondering how it’s possible for everyone to be so _talented_ when he sees the birthday fan arts. Jaemin feels so blessed with each message that he reads.

“That one is nice,” Chenle comments. Jaemin flinches. He hadn’t realised that Chenle was looking at his screen. He tilts his phone so that he can see the screen easier, and Chenle taps on one of the fan arts. “I like the colours.”

“Me too,” Jaemin agrees. “Our fans are so talented.”

“They are!” Chenle’s laughter is loud and infectious, and Jaemin finds himself grinning alongside the laughing boy. “We’re so lucky.”

After scrolling through a few more posts, Jaemin exits out of Twitter and opens up Kart Rider, chuckling when Chenle lets out a happy whoop at that. They play together for a few rounds, bickering and kicking at each other’s ankles as an attempt to sabotage the other. It’s only when Jeno pokes his head out of his room, asking them what they want for lunch that they realise how much time has passed.

Jaemin laughs loudly when Chenle’s stomach grumbles. Talk about timing.

“Don’t laugh, hyung,” Chenle complains. “I’m a growing boy.”

“You’re twenty now,” Jaemin reminds him. “I don’t think you’re doing much growing anymore, Lele.”

“Hey!” Chenle pouts. “I’m taller than you _and_ Jeno hyung now. You can’t make fun of my height anymore!”

Jaemin scowls at that, because it’s true. None of them know when or how it happened, but one day Chenle was this cute, tiny kid who laughed louder than life itself and then the next day he was suddenly towering over Renjun.

(He still laughs louder than life itself, Jaemin thinks, and it’s a quality of Chenle that Jaemin hopes he never loses.)

“So, lunch?” Jeno tries again. “Jaemin, what do you want to eat?”

Jaemin hums in thought. “Chicken?” he suggests. “No, wait, maybe we should have that for dinner instead.”

“We’re having meat for dinner,” Jeno tells him. “We can order chicken for lunch.”

“Oh.” Jaemin blinks. “Okay, sounds good to me. Is that okay with everyone else?”

“I’m fine with chicken!” Chenle chirps. He drapes himself on top of Jaemin, who grunts as he loses his balance and ends up laying down on the couch with Chenle cuddling into his side.

Jeno gives them the ‘okay’ sign before ducking back into his room, and Jaemin resigns himself to his fate of becoming a human pillow for Chenle, who is apparently feeling especially cuddly today.

“Did you do something?” he questions even as he brushes through Chenle’s hair with his fingers. “You only get like this when you did something wrong and you want us to either never find out or forgive you if we do.”

Chenle gasps, looking offended at Jaemin’s accusations. “How dare you! I have never done anything wrong in my life, ever, hyung,” he insists. Jaemin squints.

“You broke one of Renjun’s favourite mugs the other day and blamed it on Jisung,” he points out. “The only reason you’re still alive is because Jisung is Renjun’s favourite.”

Chenle sniffs. “I should be Renjun ge’s favourite. This is so wrong.”

Jaemin rolls his eyes.

They stay like that until the doorbell rings. Renjun’s the one to get the chicken from the delivery guy, and Jaemin pokes at Chenle’s side until he sits up. Jaemin’s stomach growls at the smell of the chicken, and he moves to get up from the couch until a pair of arms snake around his neck, pulling him back down.

A wet kiss is placed on Jaemin’s cheeks, bright, ringing laughter following it afterwards. “Happy birthday, hyung!” Chenle sings. “You’re an old man, now. Hope your joints don’t ache too much.”

“You’re a brat, Chenle.” Jaemin scowls, but there’s no heat behind it. Chenle just laughs even harder and gives Jaemin another kiss on the cheek. “But thanks.”

Chenle beams at him before getting up and bouncing towards their dining table to help Renjun set their lunch up. Jaemin takes it upon himself to knock on Jeno’s door to let him know that their lunch is here and to drag Jisung out of the depths of his and Renjun’s room.

“Come on, Jisungie.” Jaemin has to pull the covers away from Jisung’s head. “You’re not going to be able to sleep tonight if you don’t wake up now.”

“Hyung,” Jisung whines. “Just five more minutes, please?”

“No,” Jaemin says. “You’re just going to keep asking for five more minutes and then Chenle’s going to eat all the chicken before I can get you out of bed.”

The mention of chicken gets Jisung’s attention, and he turns over so that he can look at Jaemin. “Chicken?”

Jaemin snorts, because of course that’s what convinces Jisung to leave his bed and wake up from his nap. “Yes, chicken, you big baby. It’s time for lunch. Come on, I’m hungry.”

Jisung allows himself to be dragged upwards and out of bed, gripping on the back of Jaemin’s shirt as he stumbles after him. The table is already set by the time the two of them join everyone else, and Jaemin is equal parts pleased and surprised to see that they’ve waited.

“If we didn’t wait then Chenle would’ve tried to eat everything,” Renjun explains, ignoring Chenle’s squawk of indignation. “Since it takes forever to get Jisung out of bed.”

“I resent that,” Jisung mumbles, rubbing his eyes. Jeno wordlessly offers Jisung a cup of water.

Lunch is a loud affair, with everyone trying to speak over each other as they hold three different conversations at once. After a certain point, Jaemin isn’t sure who he’s even speaking to about the latest episode of _It’s Okay to Not Be Okay_ , because he knows for a fact that Jisung hasn’t watched a single episode but makes commentary as if he has. Renjun is talking to someone about a movie he watched with Yangyang the other day while Chenle is laughing at something that someone—Jeno, maybe?—has said.

It’s a mess. It’s chaotic. It’s home.

Jaemin wouldn’t have it any other way.

Once they’re done eating and the table has been cleared, Jisung is sent to the kitchen to do the dishes while Jaemin supervises. He decides to call his parents, putting it on speakerphone so that Jisung can say hello and listen to Jaemin’s parents nag him, and by extension, Jisung.

“Are you eating properly?” his mom asks. “Are you eating your vegetables?”

“Yes, mom.” Jaemin sighs, because he may be 21 years old, but he’ll never escape his mom nagging him about eating his vegetables, apparently. “Jisung isn’t, though. The other day we had to force him to finish his broccoli.”

“Jisung!” Jaemin’s mom reprimands. “You need to eat your vegetables!”

Jisung turns to look at Jaemin in betrayal, standing there as Jaemin’s mom lists the importance of eating all your vegetables and getting all the nutrients you need. He’s saved by Jaemin’s dad, however, when he reminds Jaemin’s mom that they need to get going or they’ll be late for the coffee plans they have with the other neighbourhood parents.

“Eat your veggies!” Jaemin’s mom says one last time before they hang up, leaving Jaemin to stare at his phone blankly and Jisung to pout at no one.

“I can’t believe you exposed me like that,” Jisung accuses as he rubs the dishes more vigorously than before. Jaemin wonders if he should stop him before Jisung seriously breaks something. “How could you do that to me, hyung?”

Jaemin shrugs, though Jisung can’t see since he has his back turned towards Jaemin. “If I have to suffer, then so do you. Sharing is caring, right?”

Jisung makes a wounded noise. “I don’t want you to share with me anymore, hyung.”

In the end, Jisung only makes one, tiny hairline crack on one of their plates, which is a big win in Jaemin’s book. They go to the living room, pausing when they see that a blanket fort has been assembled while the two of them had been busy getting nagged at by Jaemin’s mom.

“Jaemin hyung! Jisungie!” Chenle’s face lights up when he sees them standing at the entryway. “Come on! We’re going to watch _Crazy Rich Asians_.”

“Didn’t you already watch that when it first came out?” Jisung asks. He drags Jaemin over to the empty corner, stealing a pillow from Chenle and leaning his back against the foot of the couch.

Chenle pouts at the loss of his pillow but settles for one of Jeno’s arms instead. “Yeah, but I wanted to watch it with you guys.”

“Cute.” Jeno pats the top of Chenle’s head, who beams.

“I’m going to barf,” Renjun informs them. “Please dial all that,” he gestures vaguely, “back.”

Jaemin opens his arms. “You can come cuddle with me, Renjun!”

“No.”

Jaemin pouts, and Jisung laughs at him.

The movie starts. For the first few minutes, the only interruption comes from Jeno getting up to grab some snacks, and Jaemin is impressed at how they manage to last about a third of the way through before the commentary starts up.

It’s impossible to watch a movie in silence when they’re all together—especially if most of them have seen the movie already. But Jaemin doesn’t mind, and very clearly no one else does either.

Halfway through the movie, Jisung scoots closer towards Jaemin, who doesn’t think much of it. He allows their youngest to decide what he wants to do and allows him to take Jaemin’s arm and wrap it around his shoulders.

That’s the position they stay in for the rest of their movie. Jaemin watches in mild interest as Rachel confronts Nick’s overbearing mom, listening to Chenle’s comments about how badass he thinks Rachel Chu is and how she’s his new role model.

Jaemin feels Jisung shifting but doesn’t pay too much attention. “Personally, I like Astrid,” he says to no one in particular. “That whole scene with her and Michael. What a queen.”

Renjun then mentions the difference between the books and the movie, and Chenle responds with a, “you _actually_ read the book?!” while Jeno throws a pillow at them to shut them up so that he can focus on the movie.

“They’re so loud,” Jisung grumbles. He smushes his face into Jaemin’s shoulder, and Jaemin lets him with a low chuckle. The two of them continue to watch the rest of the movie, ooh-ahh-ing at the proposal scene as if this is their first time watching the movie while the other three continue to bicker.

Jaemin’s arm starts to feel numb, but he doesn’t move when he looks over and finds that Jisung is dozing off next to him. Instead, he leans his head against Jisung’s and feels himself nodding off as well.

The noise in the background fades away into static as Jaemin falls asleep, his head resting on top of Jisung’s and Jisung drooling on his shoulder.

When Jaemin wakes up, there’s a thin blanket draped over them, and Jisung has moved during his sleep to be almost completely on top of Jaemin’s lap.

“Jisung,” he grunts, because he can’t feel his legs. “Sungie, get up.”

“No.” He whines when Jaemin starts shaking him. “Noooooo.”

“I can’t feel my legs,” Jaemin hisses, wincing when Jisung shifts and jostles his legs. “Jisung, come on. Go sleep on your bed, it’ll be more comfortable.”

“Hyung is comfortable,” Jisung mumbles, burying his head in the crook of Jaemin’s neck. “Just a few more minutes.”

Jaemin sighs and gives up; he knows a losing battle when he sees one. The living room is empty save for them two, and Jaemin absentmindedly drums his fingers on Jisung’s back. The sun is just starting the set, bathing the living room in gold. The TV had been left on, so Jaemin reaches over to where the remote is sitting to turn it off.

True to his word, Jisung snoozes for just a few more minutes before sitting up, blinking at the wall with a blank expression on his face. Jaemin snorts.

“I’m so sleepy,” Jisung says.

“I can tell,” Jaemin replies. “Did you stay up late again last night?”

“Yeah.” Jisung rubs his eyes. “I was up playing games with Haechan hyung.”

Jaemin clicks his tongue in disapproval but can’t actually bring himself to say anything. Not when he’s stayed up late on many occasions to play games as well. “Sleep early today, okay?”

“Okay, hyung.” Jisung slides out of Jaemin’s lap to stretch, his face scrunching up as he does so. Jaemin laughs at Jisung’s expression, reaching over to pinch his cheeks.

“So cute,” he coos. “My Jisungie is so cute.”

Jisung frowns. “Stop that,” he says, slapping Jaemin’s hands away. They sit in silence for a bit, trying to regain their bearings after the impromptu nap.

Jaemin’s phone lights up with a notification from Haechan, and Jaemin unlocks his phone to read the message. “Hey, Haechan says he’s coming over for dinner—”

He turns his head to look at Jisung as he says this and is surprised when something soft lands on his lips. He leans back, staring at Jisung in surprise while Jisung stares back at him, looking absolutely mortified.

“ _Why_ ,” Jisung hisses, “did you turn your head. _Why_.”

Jaemin makes an affronted noise. “How was I supposed to know you were trying to kiss me?”

Jisung looks even more mortified at that, and Jaemin feels more amused than anything once the initial shock wears off.

“Where were you aiming for, huh?” he teases Jisung, who’s turning redder and redder with each passing second. “My cheek? Chenle already got me there twice, you know. You’ll have to try somewhere else.”

“You are the worst,” Jisung says, scrambling up to get away from Jaemin, no doubt. “The absolute worst, and I hate you.”

“Wait.” Jaemin laughs, grabbing the hem of Jisung’s pants and tugging. “Come back.”

“No,” Jisung hisses, trying to kick Jaemin’s hand away. “Let me go!”

Jaemin stands up as well, bringing Jisung in for a hug before he can get far. “It’s my birthday,” he whines. It’s for show, and he knows that Jisung knows. “Give me a proper kiss, Jisungie.”

Jisung glares at him but doesn’t try to push Jaemin away. Jaemin takes that as permission to press his lips against Jisung’s for a chaste kiss. He grins at the sight of Jisung’s bright red ears when he pulls away. “Cute,” he comments.

“Shut up,” Jisung says. “Let me go. I have to pee.”

He watches fondly as Jisung almost trips over his feet in his haste to get away from Jaemin, chuckling as he starts to clean up the blanket fort. He doesn’t bother folding them and putting it away into the laundry hamper and chooses to dump the blankets on top of the couch instead. They’ll probably want to reassemble it later after dinner, anyways.

“Hey.” Jaemin pokes his head into Renjun’s room, where he finds him, Jeno, and Chenle cuddling on Renjun’s tiny ass bed. Weirdos. “Haechan said he’s coming over for dinner.”

“We know,” Jeno says while trying to stifle a yawn. “He texted me this morning. He’s coming after his schedule.”

Jaemin nods. “Do we have enough meat?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Want me to wake you up when he’s here?”

“No need.” Renjun untangles himself from the mess of limbs, ignoring Chenle’s whines. “I’m not trying to stay up all night like the rest of you. Come on, Jaemin. Let’s get started on dinner.”

Jaemin trails after Renjun into the kitchen. He sets the rice while Renjun washes their grill. He can hear Jisung join Jeno and Chenle in the living room to set up the table for them to eat.

“Did he say what time he’s coming?” Renjun asks as they start preparing some side dishes.

“Nope.” Jaemin shakes his head. “He just said to save some food for him or else he’d eat all our snacks.”

Renjun sighs. “Of course he did. Can you pass me the salt?”

It’s easy, cooking with Renjun. They’ve done this together so many times that it’s muscle memory at this point. Once they’re done preparing and the rice is done cooking, Renjun calls Jeno over to help them bring everything to the table.

As always, Haechan’s timing is impeccable, and they hear him before they can see him.

“Hello, commoners, your king is here,” he declares from the hallway and appears seconds later in his bare-faced glory. “Rejoice.”

“Shut up,” Renjun says. “Did you bring the cake?”

“What cake?” Jaemin asks at the same time Haechan pointedly holds up the cake box in his hand, raising an eyebrow at Renjun as if he’s asking, ‘are you serious?’

“Go put it in the refrigerator and sit down, then.” Renjun waves him away, turning back towards the table to turn the grill on. He hands one of the tongs to Jeno and slaps Jisung’s hands away from the other, handing it to Chenle instead. “Jisung is not allowed to cook.”

“I agree,” Jeno says, shuddering at the reminder of what happened last time. “Jisung is no longer allowed near uncooked food.”

Jisung juts his bottom lip out. “It was one time.”

“One time was enough,” Chenle says under his breath.

Jisung scowls.

“Hey, baby,” Haechan greets as he slides into the space between Jaemin and Jisung. “How was your day?”

“Good,” both Jaemin and Jisung chorus. “We took a nap,” Jisung tells Haechan, and Haechan looks at the two of them in betrayal.

“Without me?” he complains. “I want to take a nap together, too!”

Jaemin shrugs. He scoops up some rice for Haechan as he says, “Not our fault you had a schedule. You should’ve ditched to come nap with us.”

“Yeah,” Jisung agrees, never one to miss a chance in teasing his hyungs. “This is all on you, Haechan hyung.”

Haechan looks like a kicked puppy. “You guys suck.”

“Eat your food, idiot trio,” Jeno says.

Dinner, much like lunch, is loud and chaotic—even more so now that Haechan is here with them. There’s at least five different conversation topics going on at once, and Jaemin’s head swirls as he tries to keep up with all of them.

Lettuce is thrown at each other at a certain point and Renjun puts his foot down when Chenle tries to fling garlic at them.

It takes twice as long as it should for them to finish cleaning up, and Jaemin feels like his heart is going to burst out of his chest when they bring the cake out, _Happy Birthday Jaemin_ written neatly in English on top of the frosting.

“Make a wish.” Haechan’s eyes are sparkling as he holds the cake out towards Jaemin, and Jaemin only has to pause for a moment before he blows out the candles.

Jisung wordlessly dips two fingers into the frosting and smears it on Jaemin’s cheek. “Happy birthday, hyung,” he says. Jaemin grins widely.

The cake is full of peaches inside—Jaemin’s favourite. The six of them laugh as the recount stories from their trainee days until now, and Jaemin feels so unbelievably _warm_ as he looks around the table, taking in the sight of his members, no, his _family_ laughing with each other.

He finds himself squished in between Haechan and Jisung once the cake is finished and the blanket fort is reassembled. _Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone_ is playing, because it’s one of Jaemin’s favourites and so everyone indulges him.

Haechan slips his hand into Jaemin’s, lacing their fingers together during the King’s Cross station scene, and Jisung leans his head on top of Jaemin’s shoulder. He doesn’t complain when Jaemin takes one of his hands with his free one, lacing their fingers together as well.

Jaemin thinks their hands feel like home.

“This is my favourite part,” Haechan whispers when the Golden Trio accidentally discovers Fluffy. “The dog is so cute.”

Jaemin stifles a snort because of course Haechan would find a giant three-headed dog cute. “Right.”

Renjun is the first to retire for the night once the movie ends. “I didn’t nap at all today, unlike the rest of you.” He narrows his eyes at them. “Good night, guys. Don’t forget to turn off the TV.”

“Good night, Renjun,” the rest of them chorus.

Jeno is the next one to go to bed, with Chenle trailing after him sleepily. Jisung follows soon after, pouting when he realises that neither Jaemin nor Haechan move.

“When are you coming to bed?” he asks, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

“Soon, baby,” Haechan croons. “Go to sleep first. We’ll be right there.”

Jisung nods, yawning widely. He doesn’t go to the room he shares with Renjun and goes to Jaemin’s bedroom instead. Jaemin can’t help smiling at that.

“You look like a lovesick fool,” Haechan comments.

“So do you half the time around him,” Jaemin counters.

Haechan shrugs but doesn’t deny it. “So,” he starts, leaning back against the couch and turning slightly so that he’s facing Jaemin. “How was your birthday?”

“It was okay.” Jaemin lets go of Haechan’s hand to stretch his arms. His shoulders feel stiff from sitting in one position for over two hours. “Relaxed around the dorm. Called my parents. Watched in horror as Jisung washed the dishes.”

“You guys let him wash the dishes?” Haechan raises an eyebrow.

“He didn’t break anything this time,” Jaemin defends the youngest. “He’s learning.”

Haechan laughs at that, and Jaemin smiles lazily in response. They sit there in silence, enjoying each other’s company, and Jaemin takes the opportunity to study Haechan.

He’s lost a little weight, Jaemin observes, and also takes note of the dark circles. Haechan stares back at him in a silent challenge, and Jaemin meets his stare evenly.

“What?” Haechan asks when Jaemin doesn’t say anything. “Do I have something on my face?”

“No. I was just admiring your face,” Jaemin replies honestly. “Your cheeks are so rosy. It’s cute.”

Haechan looks taken aback for a second. “Shut up,” he says weakly. “You’re so cheesy, Jaemin.”

Jaemin laughs.

“So.” Jaemin leans his elbow on the couch, resting his head in his hand. “I got some interesting presents today from everyone.”

“Oh?” Haechan raises an eyebrow in interest. “What’d you get?”

“Well, Mark hyung sent me a kissing face emoji, which surprised me because he never uses emojis,” Jaemin starts recounting the events from today. “Oh, but Jeno woke me up with a forehead kiss first. That was kind of nice.”

Haechan scowls at that, and Jaemin tries not to look too pleased. He fails spectacularly, if Haechan’s unamused look is anything to go by.

“Anything else?” he asks, though he doesn’t really look like he wants to hear the answer.

“Renjun kissed my hand.” Jaemin shrugs. “Chenle kissed my cheek. Twice.” He pauses. “It was kind of cute. And _very_ Chenle.”

Haechan sighs. “I can imagine. Where’d Jisung kiss you?”

Jaemin gives him a closed-mouth smile as he taps his index finger against his lips twice.

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope,” Jaemin sings. “Granted it was an accident the first time. I think he was aiming for my cheek, but I turned my head on accident. It was very k-drama like. The second time wasn’t an accident, though.”

Haechan groans, leaning his head back in displeasure. “You suck.”

“I know. You’ve only told me like, five times tonight so far.” Jaemin rolls his eyes. “What about you?”

Haechan looks up at that. “What about me?”

Jaemin tilts his head. “Do you have anything for me?”

Something in the air shifts as they stare at each other.

“Maybe I do,” Haechan says. “Maybe I don’t.”

Jaemin waits.

Haechan’s lips are soft when they press against Jaemin’s gently, like he’s testing out the waters first. He pulls back after only a second, eyes roaming Jaemin’s face as if he’s searching for something.

Jaemin’s eyes flutter close when Haechan leans in again, and he learns that Haechan’s lips are just as soft the second time.

He brings a hand up to cup Haechan’s cheeks, bringing him in closer. Haechan sighs against Jaemin’s lips, wrapping his arms around Jaemin’s waist.

It’s warm.

“Happy birthday, Jaemin,” Haechan whispers when they pull away. Jaemin blinks once, twice, and leans in again.

Haechan’s lips are soft the third time, too. And the fourth. And the fifth. Jaemin loses count after that.

“We should get to bed,” Haechan murmurs against Jaemin’s lips. “Jisung’s probably waiting for us.”

Jaemin leans his forehead against Haechan’s, closing his eyes and trying to catch his breath. “Yeah,” he exhales. “Let’s go.”

He offers a hand, pulling Haechan up and tugging him towards his bedroom. Sure enough, Jisung looks up when they enter, opening his arms and making grabby hands at the two of them.

“What took you so long,” he grumbles with a pout. “I want cuddles.”

Haechan laughs quietly while Jaemin hurries over and flops down onto his bed, wrapping an arm around Jisung’s waist.

“Sorry, baby,” Haechan coos. He lays down on Jisung’s other side, leaning his head against Jisung’s shoulder blades. “Time to sleep.”

“Good night, hyungs,” Jisung says, his voice trailing off. Jaemin looks at him fondly.

“Good night, baby. Good night, Jaemin.”

Jaemin reaches over to cup Haechan’s cheek, rubbing his thumb against his cheekbones before pulling away.

“Good night, Haechan. Good night, Sungie.”

He goes to sleep that night feeling warm and content.

**Author's Note:**

> comments + kudos are highly appreciated...! ๑❛◡❛๑


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